Drivers in France must have a sticker on their vehicle to avoid a £117 on-the-spot fine.

Brits driving to France for the Easter holidays must have a sticker on their vehicle to avoid a £117 on-the-spot fine.

A new law, which came into force earlier this year , means that drivers heading to Paris, Lyon and Grenoble are now required to show a £3.60 sticker on their windscreen – regardless of how long they’ll be in the city for.

The Crit’Air scheme, which was brought into force in January to tackle pollution, requires all vehicles – cars, lorries, motorbikes and buses – to display a vignette, highlighting how much their vehicle pollutes.

The system was launched on January 15 but vehicles registered abroad will be allowed to drive in the French capital without the sticker until March 31.

Stickers, which cost £3.60 (€4.18) each including postage and are available to buy on the Crit’Air website , come in six categories and cover the very cleanest electric or hydrogen-powered vehicles (Crit’Air green sticker) to the dirtiest (Crit’Air 5 grey sticker).

The penalty for failure to display a sticker is an on-the-spot fine of between £58 and £117.

Order now – or face a fine

Whether you’re travelling now, or later in the year, the sooner you order the better. One firm has even warned stickers could take up to six weeks to reach UK letterboxes.

Breakdown firm the RAC ordered a vignette from the official Crit’Air website on 6 February – which arrived six weeks later on 16 March, despite the letter being dated 2 March.

The website states that stickers should be delivered within 30 days.

RAC European breakdown spokesman Simon Williams said: “We ordered an ‘anti-pollution’ sticker as a test shortly after the English-language site went live and worryingly it took a full six weeks to turn up.

“As a result we are now concerned that anyone who orders one now for a trip that will take them into the centre of Paris, Lyon or Grenoble this Easter will not receive it in time and may be at risk of an unwanted encounter with the French authorities.

“We strongly urge people planning to drive to these cities at May half-term to order their stickers now to avoid any issues.

“Motorists who don’t order stickers are in danger of being fined up to £117, although we understand the police will be lenient in the early days, particularly with foreign drivers.

Those who have purchased their stickers can track their orders on the government’s official Crit’Air website .